Filip Filipović ( sr-Cyrl, Филип Филиповић; born 2 May 1987) is a Serbian

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He was a member of the

Serbia men's national water polo team The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international water polo competitions and is controlled by the . They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, World Cup, FINA World League, Mediter ...

s that won bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and gold medals in 2016 and 2020. He also held the world title in 2009 and 2015 and the European title in 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. He was named ''Most Valuable Player'' at the 2011 World Championships. He was also voted as the male water polo "World Player of the Year" in 2011, 2014 and 2021 by the FINA magazine. He played for

Pro Recco A.S.D. Pro Recco (Official name: Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Pro Recco) is an Italian water polo club from Recco, in Liguria. It currently plays in Serie A1. Pro Recco is the most successful club in men's water polo. In men's domesti ...

in Italy and won three

LEN Champions League The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of na ...

and three

LEN Super Cup The LEN Super Cup is an annual water polo match organized by LEN and contested by the reigning champions of the two European club competitions, the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. From 1976 to 2002, the LEN Super Cup was contested betwe ...

with them. Currently, he plays for

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. Filipović was given the honour to carry the national flag of Serbia at the opening ceremony of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, becoming the 26th water polo player to be a

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

Club career

Pro Recco

In February 2010. Filip and his Pro Recco teammate Udovičić were guests in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

. They played an all-stars humanitarian match between Italy and the selection of foreigners playing in the Italian championship, and all proceeds from the match went to charity – to help Haiti, the victims of the recent devastating earthquake. Caps of all players were offered for sale at a symbolic price of 30 euros. It was confirmed on 29 June 2011 that Filip and his teammates from Pro Recco will play in

Adriatic Water polo League The Regional Water Polo League (abbr. RWP), commonly known as the Regional League or Adriatic League, is a regional water polo league in Southeast Europe. Originally, the league featured clubs from Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. In later years ...

. ;2011–12 season In the second round of the Adriatic League, on 24 September, Filipović scored his first goal against Koper Rokava in a 16–4 home win. On 1 October 2011. Filipović scored two goals in the Adriatic League, in a 10–7 third round away win against Jug CO. On 15 October Filipović scored a goal in the fifth round of the Adriatic League, in a 15–8 home win against Primorje EB. On 22 October Filipović scored two goals in the first round of the Euroleague Group in an easy 13–5 win over Spartak Volgograd. On 29 October, in the Adriatic League seventh round 13–9 home win against Mladost, Filipović scored two goals. On 26 November Filipović scored a goal in the Euroleague third round, in a 10–8 win against Jadran Herceg Novi. Filipović scored two goals on 3 December in a humiliating 21–0 defeat over

POŠK POŠK (POmorski Športski Klub: ''Marine Sports Club''), is a professional water polo club based in Split, Croatia. The club was founded in 1937. As of 2021–22 season, it competes in the Croatian League and Regional League A2. History The club ...

in the twelfth round of the Adriatic League. In the thirteenth round on 10 December, Filipović scored another two goals against Mornar Split in a 20–8 away win. On 8 February 2012. in the fifth round of the Euroleague, Filipović scored two goals in a 15–7 win against

CN Marseille The Cercle des nageurs de Marseille (Circle of Marseille's swimmers) is an elite swim club based in Marseille, France, founded in 1921. It is best known for its water polo team which is the most decorated in France, and also for training many of the ...

. 3 days later he scored another two goals but in the Adriatic League fifteenth round 9–8 home win against Jug CO. He scored one more in a win over Primorje EB by 13–6 on 18 February, in the sixteenth round. On 25 February, in the last round of the Euroleague group stage, Filipović was the top scorer in the 18–7 away win against Spartak Volgograd with five goals. Four days later, Filipović scored another five goals but in the Adriatic League fourteenth-round game behind, in a 21–5 easy home win over Mornar BS. On 3 March Filipović scored two goals in a 12–7 Adriatic League away win against Mladost, the second goal was his 20th so far.

National career

Filip finally scored his first two goals on 17 January at the European Championship against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the second game which the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

won by a score of 13–12. On 19 January, in the third game of the tournament, Filipović scored two goals in a big 15–12 victory against rivals and defending European champions

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He will also remember the match for the

unsportsmanlike conduct Unsportsmanlike conduct (also called untrustworthy behaviour or ungentlemanly fraudulent or bad sportsmanship or poor sportsmanship or anti fair-play) is a foul or offense in many sports that violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sport ...

of Croat

Nikša Dobud Nikša Dobud (born 5 August 1985) is a Croatian water polo player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed for the Croatia men's national water polo team in the men's event. He is 6'7" (200 cm) tall and weighs 276 lbs (125 kg) ...

who deliberately struck him from behind, resulting in serious bruising underneath Filipović's right eye. Filipović responded by scoring two goals against the Croatians and waving the Serbian three-finger salute at the Croatian bench. On 27 January Filipović scored three goals in a semifinal 12–8 victory over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Filip Filipović won the 2012 European Championship on 29 January. He scored a goal in the final against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

which his national team won by 9–8. This was his third gold medal at the European Championships. Filipović was the joint top goalscorer at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, with 19 goals.

Honours

Filipović has played for the Serbia and Montenegro / Serbia national team more than 381 times and has scored more than 677 goals. He has 35 medals with his national team, the most notable being gold medals representing Serbia at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 2009 Rome and 2015 Kazan, as well as gold medals and individual MVP awards at the Olympics in 2016 Rio de Janeiro and

2020 Tokyo The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

.Filip Filipović
. sports-reference.com

Club

;Partizan * Serbian Championship: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup (Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup f ...

: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 ;Pro Recco *

: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15 ; ''runners-up'':

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2017–18 *

: 2010, 2012, 2015 * Adriatic League: 2011–12 * Serie A1: 2009–10,

, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 ;Radnički Kragujevac *

LEN Euro Cup The LEN Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the Ligue Européenne de Natation for those clubs who did not qualify for the LEN Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. History Names of the competiti ...

: 2012–13 *

''runners-up'': 2013–14 ;Szolnok Vízilabda *

: 2020–21 * Hungarian Championship: 2020–21 Olympiacos * Greek Championship: 2021–22 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 2021–22

Awards

* FINA "World Player of the Year" award: 2011, 2014, 2021 * Swimming World Magazine's man water polo "World Player of the Year" award: 2016, 2021 *''Waterpolo-World'' Magazine's man water polo "World Player of the Year" award: 2015 * LEN "European Player of the Year" award: 2009, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 *Member of the World Team of the Year's 2000-2020 by total-waterpolo *Member of the World Team 2018, 2021 by ''total-waterpolo'' * Sportsman of The Year by the Serbian Olympic Committee: 2016, 2021 * Serbia's sport association "May Award" : 2007 *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Top Scorer: 2009 Rome *

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

: 2011 Shanghai * World League Top Scorer: 2011 Firenze * Olympic Tournament 2012 London Team of the Tournament * World League Top Scorer: 2014 Dubai * LEN Champions League Top Scorer: 2013–14 with Radnički Kragujevac * Olympic Tournament Top Scorer: 2016 Rio de Janeiro * Olympic Tournament

: 2016 Rio de Janeiro * Olympic Tournament 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team of the Tournament * Olympic Tournament

* Olympic Tournament 2020 Tokyo Team of the Tournament * European Championship

: 2018 Barcelona * World League

: 2019 Belgrade * Hungarian Championship

: 2020–21 with

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by other #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A City with county rights, city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, i ...

* Greek Championship

: 2021–22 with Olympiacos

Personal life

Filipović is married to Sanja and has son and daughter.Filip Filipović
. nbcolympics.com

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Filipovic, Filip 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Belgrade Serbian male water polo players Water polo drivers Left-handed water polo players Water polo players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Serbia in water polo Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia in water polo World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo European champions for Serbia and Montenegro European champions for Serbia Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in water polo Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Serbia Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Serbia Olympiacos Water Polo Club players Serbian expatriates in Greece Serbian expatriates in Italy